Advanced Networked Lighting Control System Including Improved Systems and Methods for Automated Self-Grouping of Lighting Fixtures

1. A system for commissioning a network of lighting fixtures, comprising: a plurality of lighting fixtures, each of the plurality of lighting fixtures including: a lighting element; an identifier unique to each of said plurality of lighting fixtures; a sensor module including a light sensing element; and a network coordinator configured to discover, group and control a portion of the plurality of lighting fixtures by communicating with each of the plurality of lighting fixtures; wherein the network coordinator includes a processor programmed to: receive, via a communication module, respective messages sent from each of the plurality of lighting fixtures, each of the respective messages including the identifier associated with the respective lighting fixture; determine a respective signal strength associated with each of said respective messages; and rank each of the plurality of lighting fixtures according to the determined signal strength.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of said plurality of lighting fixtures includes a first communication module for transmitting and receiving messages with said communication module located within said network coordinator.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein each of said first communication module of said lighting fixture is a first transceiver and said communication module of said network coordinator is a second transceiver.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein each of said first transceivers of said lighting fixture is a wireless transceiver and said second transceiver of said network coordinator is a wireless transceiver.

5. The system of claim 4 , further comprising a third transceiver associated with the network coordinator, the third transceiver for receiving wireless messages from a remote device for controlling an operational function of the network coordinator.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor of said network coordinator is programmed to add each of the plurality of lighting fixtures, from which a respective message is received, to a networked lighting group.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the processor of said network coordinator is programmed to selectively command, via the communication module, each of said lighting fixtures to illuminate their respective lighting elements, based on the determined ranking.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processor of said network coordinator begins said selective commanding in response to a user input selected from a list consisting of a light flash, a button press on an entry station, and a signal from a remote device.

9. A method for commissioning a networked lighting system, comprising: sending, from a plurality of lighting fixtures, respective messages to a network coordinator associated with an area, each of the respective messages including an identifier associated with the respective lighting fixture; receiving, at the network coordinator, the respective messages; determining, at the network coordinator, a respective signal strength associated with each of said respective messages; ranking each of the plurality of lighting fixtures according to the determined signal strength; sending, from the network coordinator, a message to a highest ranked one of said plurality of lighting fixtures, the message instructing the highest ranked one to illuminate an associated lighting element; determining whether said illuminated lighting element is located within the area; and keeping the highest ranked one in a networked lighting group if said illuminated lighting element is determined to be located within the area, or removing the highest ranked one from said networked lighting group if said illuminated lighting element is determined not to be located within the area.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the step of sending respective messages to a network coordinator is in response to one of a light flash provided to a light sensing element associated with each of said plurality of lighting fixtures, an occupancy condition sensed by an occupancy sensing element associated with each of said plurality of lighting fixtures, or an activation message sent by the network coordinator.

11. The method of claim 9 , the network coordinator further comprises a transceiver for communicating with a remote device, the remote device running an application configured to enable a user to control at least one aspect of the network coordinator.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising, before the step of sending, from the network coordinator, a message to a highest ranked one of said plurality of lighting fixtures, adding each of the plurality of lighting fixtures, from which the respective messages have been received by the network coordinator, to a networked lighting group.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the steps of sending, from the network coordinator, a message to a highest ranked one of said plurality of lighting fixtures and determining whether said illuminated lighting element is located within the area are repeated until one of the plurality of lighting fixtures in the ranked list is determined to be in the area, wherein network coordinator keeps the lighting fixture illuminating its lighting element in the networked lighting group and identifies it as the first grouped lighting fixture.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein determining whether said illuminated lighting element is located within the area is performed by an installer, the installer confirms that the illuminated lighting fixture is located within the area by pressing a button, soft key or other data entry feature on an entry station, or by pressing a button on a remote device.

15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: sending, from the network coordinator, a message to a second highest ranked lighting fixture of said plurality of lighting fixtures, the message instructing the second highest ranked lighting fixture to illuminate an associated lighting element; determining whether said lighting element associated with said second highest ranked lighting fixture is located within the area; and keeping the second highest ranked one in the networked lighting group if said illuminated lighting element is determined to be located within the area, or removing the second highest ranked lighting fixture from the networked lighting group if said illuminated lighting element is determined not to be located within the area.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein sending, from the network coordinator, a message instructing the second highest ranked lighting fixture to illuminate an associated lighting element comprises instructing the second highest ranked lighting fixture to cycle its lighting element through a series of on and off cycles.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the step of determining whether the lighting element associated with the second highest ranked lighting fixture is located within the area comprises sensing, at a light sensing element associated with one of said plurality of lighting fixtures, whether an ambient light level is increased when the lighting element associated with the second highest ranked lighting fixture is illuminated.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein when light sensing element of the first highest ranked lighting fixture determines the ambient light level to have increased when the lighting element associated with the second highest ranked lighting fixture is illuminated, wherein the network coordinator keeps the second highest ranked lighting fixture in the networked lighting group.

19. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: providing a light pulse to a lighting sensing element of an additional lighting fixture located within the area; sending, from the additional lighting fixture, a message including an identifier associated with the respective lighting fixture; receiving, at the network coordinator, the message from the additional lighting fixture; and adding, by the network coordinator, the additional lighting fixture to the networked lighting group.

20. The method of claim 9 , wherein after determining the highest ranked one is located within the area, activating an automated grouping process comprising: sending, from the network coordinator, a message to the highest ranked one to turn off its associated lighting element; sending, from the network coordinator, a message to a next lighting fixture, the message instructing the next lighting fixture to illuminate an associated lighting element; determining whether said illuminated lighting element is located within the area by monitoring one or more light sensing elements in the one or more lighting fixtures in the networked lighting group for an increase in ambient light level in the area; and keeping the next lighting fixture in the networked lighting group if said illuminated lighting element is determined to be located within the area, or removing the next lighting fixture from said networked lighting group if said illuminated lighting element is determined not to be located within the area.